Builds Latinskllz’s ‘08 Non-Nav Build

[latinskllz]

I mounted my rear resi's behind the body on top of the frame rails at the back of the wheel well. Worked well.

Hmm, that's an option...Wonder if I have enough slack after mounting. I'll probably wait until the weekend to tackle this again as it's 13F here in Colorado...

 

[latinskllz]

Alright, finally got it all installed.

Steering wheel is crooked to the right after lift, so hopefully an alignment will fix it. I should’ve just bought new tie rod ends and time for installation as I practically replaced all key suspension components. Aside from that, I believe I hear some clunking over bumps.

For anyone doing a similar installation, here are my observations/notes:

1. If replacing UCAs, driver’s side goes faster if you remove battery to allow sufficient room to remove the long bolt. Passenger’s side bolt will most likely rub against PS reservoir hose, so I rubbed a dab of oil to help reduce friction. You will most likely have to push back the rubber hose for clearance of bolt head.
2. Sway bar drop brackets (rectangular ones) to move the sway bar forward attaching to frame required rounding off the edges where it is flush with the frame. Originally when I installed, the bracket would run against the welds. Rounding off about 1/8” of an inch or so helped. Make sure you test for the brackets before mounting sway bar to ensure flush.
3. If you can avoid working in cold weather, do it. I had a heater going in the garage but didn’t help with turning some bolts. Ex. The SPC alignment cams bolted up easier as the oblong nut was able to turn easier.
4. Clean the rust off the threads on frame nuts to mount the skid plates. I’d also replace with new bolts. Mine came out with bad threads probably due to air gun
5. I chose to remove the entire rear air system so I had more clearance to install rear resis further back.

Now for the pics.

 

[latinskllz]

More..

I forgot one additional note: the metal tech coil conversion kit came with washers for the bolts that go through the eyelet of the coil seating area (where the airbag was sitting). Test fitting revealed that the washers were not wide enough for my taste to cover the odd shaped hole at nut location so I ended up getting larger washers.

 

[latinskllz]

Lastly, new head unit! So much better and cleaner sound. Backup camera is nice to have as wel!

 

[latinskllz]

Ahh, forgot this detail:

If you have to cut your control arm off due to seized cam adjuster bolts, I used a oscillating tool with a carbide blade from Dremel. That allowed me to work in tight spaces while also being effective. Took about two blades and an hour to remove one.

Make sure you let the tool do the work. Pushing too much hoping it will cut faster will lead to dulling the blade.

I chose to cut straight through the rubber which eventually lead to cutting the hollow bolt that normally seizes.

 

[ArBrnSnpr]

When you installed your new backup camera, did you splice it into the factory wiring hatness (4 wires) or was it plug and play?

 

[latinskllz]

When you installed your new backup camera, did you splice it into the factory wiring hatness (4 wires) or was it plug and play?

This camera simply tapped into one of reverse light wires (blue/red IIRC) to the red wire of camera and simply grounded black wire.

Feeding it through and to the back of the head unit, I simply connected the video RCA and red wire to the HU purple/white REVERSE camera wire.

Here’s the camera I purchased:

NATIKA Backup/Front View Camera,IP69K Waterproof Great Night Vision HD and Super Wide Angle Metal OEM Style Reverse Rear View Backup Camera for Cars Pickup Trucks SUVs RVs Vans (Black) Amazon product ASIN B07H852D49

Tightening the nut was difficult and could be a little tighter due to clearance issues as the threaded rod can hit the metal where hole was drilled. If I were to do it over again, I probably would have simply notched the license plate light and feed the wiring through there.

The slim connectors allowed ease to feed through rubber grommet from door to rear quarter.

Pic of reverse signal:

 

[ArBrnSnpr]

Thanks.

That looks much nicer than stock!

 

[latinskllz]

OEM Sports installed with HID kit!!! Wooo!!

Lastly, my RRW wheels finally came in, gonna get them ceramic coated then mounted after I get the black bolts on the faux beadlock in.

 

[GXMac]

OEM Sports installed with HID kit!!! Wooo!!

Lastly, my RRW wheels finally came in, gonna get them ceramic coated then mounted after I get the black bolts on the faux beadlock in.

View attachment 2196825

Nice! Did you use the retrofit HID brackets? what kit did you use?

 

[latinskllz]

Nice! Did you use the retrofit HID brackets? what kit did you use?

I simply bought the h11Xtr Kit. Installed the h11 HID bulb and secured ballasts/igniters on body. Didn’t need to do brackets as it basically was a swap.

H11: XTR HID Kit XD.N.028

Inserting HID bulbs into halogen designed bases requires extreme accuracy. Each XTR HID bulb is laser aligned into its base so that the focal point of the HID bulb precisely matches the focal point position of the original halogen bulb,

www.xenondepot.com

 

[tlin]

How do the Focals sound?

 

[latinskllz]

How do the Focals sound?

They sound awesome. Crisp detail while having some punch to them. I’m sure with an aftermarket amplifier they would sound so much better as not enough power is probably being fed to them from OEM.

 

[latinskllz]

Been a while. Finally had time to install some goodies.

MITAccessories Sport Steering Wheel

Sooooo much better in grip feel.

 

[latinskllz]

Finally was able to get my 17x8.5” -12 RRW RR2-V wheels installed.

I ran into a few issues that should be taken into account when purchasing these wheels:

Front wheel test fitment initially failed due to only getting 5.5 turns hand tight. Discount tire requires at least 7 turns before torquing. Therefore, I contacted RRW and they mentioned their customers haven’t had issues with fitment on GX470’s before.

I know I replaced front hubs with Blue Pit and do remember stud length was the same and original ones coming out. Further research revealed that rear studs are longer than fronts.

I also tried to use ET style lugs but apparently the lug bore size on wheel is just a tad smaller to not allow the ET to fully seat.

End result to get them to fit was to press new set of rear studs into fronts, shave off 2mm from back of wheel hub.

Lastly, as I ordered the faux beadlock version (denoted by -V vs -S), this presented an issue with the duck foot on tire mounting machine catching which resulted in some scratches around lip. Therefore, I’d recommend removing the bolts and then reinstalling them prior to balancing. They only need 5 ft lbs of torque.

pics attached. Pardon the overexposure but wanted to highlight bronze color.

 

[latinskllz]

To highlight the front stud lengths a little further, I have attached pictures to help visualize and can be used as a reference.

- Original front stud length from rotor hat: 21.99mm

- Rear stud pressed length from rotor hat: 25.80mm

 

[mtwilly87]

Finally was able to get my 17x8.5” -12 RRW RR2-V wheels installed.

I ran into a few issues that should be taken into account when purchasing these wheels:

Front wheel test fitment initially failed due to only getting 5.5 turns hand tight. Discount tire requires at least 7 turns before torquing. Therefore, I contacted RRW and they mentioned their customers haven’t had issues with fitment on GX470’s before.

I know I replaced front hubs with Blue Pit and do remember stud length was the same and original ones coming out. Further research revealed that rear studs are longer than fronts.

I also tried to use ET style lugs but apparently the lug bore size on wheel is just a tad smaller to not allow the ET to fully seat.

End result to get them to fit was to press new set of rear studs into fronts, shave off 2mm from back of wheel hub to finally get them to fit.

Lastly, as I ordered the faux beadlock version (denoted by -V vs -S), this presented an issue with the duck foot on tire mounting machine catching which resulted in some scratches around lip. Therefore, I’d recommend removing the bolts and then reinstalling them prior to balancing. They only need 5 ft lbs of torque.

pics attached. Pardon the overexposure but wanted to highlight bronze color.

View attachment 2307422

View attachment 2307423

View attachment 2307424

Wow this looks fantastic. Love the bronze with the silver.

 

[Tanaman]

Those wheels look awesome even though they were a bit of work to get to fit. Do you by chance have any strait on shots of how the wheels sit with the fenders?

 

[latinskllz]

Those wheels look awesome even though they were a bit of work to get to fit. Do you by chance have any strait on shots of how the wheels sit with the fenders?

here you go on 275/70/17